The next morning, Natalia got Michael up and he went with her to her rehearsal. "This is where you all practice?," He asked as she led him through hallway after hallway.
"Yea..well for now, this is where the first show is taking place. We got here a couple days ago.."
"When's the first show?"
"Two days."
"Nervous?"
"Not yet. I will be though, no doubt."
"You'll do fine.."
"I hope so."
"You will."
They finally emerged from the winding hallway she had led him through to see people he guessed were other dancers. He noticed that no one seemed to pay a bit of attention to Natalia as she entered. Not a hello or even a smile. He frowned inwardly a bit as she continued to lead him past everyone and finally onto the big stage. "Can you believe it, Michael? In two days, I'm going to be up here and it's going to be FILLED."
Michael looked around at all of the empty seats and nodded, "Well..not really...but damn Natalia, I do believe you've made it."
She smiled, "I can't believe I'm here."
"Neither can dad."
"Is he mad?"
"No..I thikn he's just worried...me and Chris put his mind at ease though, don't worry so much."
"Sorry..it's a habit."
He smiled, "So..can I go sit in the audience while you all dance or whatever?"
"Sure..come on, I'll go with you to make sure you get the best seat."
He laughed and let her take his arm and walk down the stairs and into the audience seating.
Nick heard her before he even saw her that morning. She was talking animatedly about something about the seating in the Orlando Arena. He guessed she was with her brother. He poked his head through a door on the side of the stage to see her sitting somewhere about middle arena with a tall, dark haired guy sitting next to her. Nick could tell almost immediately that they were related. They both had the same dark features on their faces. He smiled slightly, he was glad she finally had someone she really knew around for a little bit. He had a feeling that she hadn't been making friends with the other dancers too easily and from what he had gathered in their conversations, she didn't have many friends...period. But with her brother there now, she seemed to light up. Nick had a feeling that her and her family were very close to one another.
She looked up, feeling someone's eyes on her, to see Nick standing on stage. She smiled, stood up, and waved at him. He grinned and waved back. She turned to her brother, said something and he nodded, then she ran to the stage. "Hey, how are you doing?"
"I'm good..you seem very happy. That your brother?"
"Yep, that's Michael. He can only stay for like half of rehearsal...Fatima won't care, will she?"
"Nah, everyone brings family and friends at one point or another."
She turned to go back to her brother but was surprised when he was right there behind her. He smiled and held a hand out to Nick, "Hi, I'm Michael Scorpio, Natalia's brother.
"Nick Carter, nice to meet you finally, I've heard alot about you."
He smiled, "Yeah, me too. So, when's this thing get underway?"
"In a few minutes Michael, geez..."
"I'm impatient, what can I say? And I wanna see you dance..."
She rolled her eyes, "You'll see me soon enough up there Michael."
Michael sat, his hands on his knees, in the front row as he watched Fatima (whom he had also met) order the group of dancers through some pretty intricate dance steps. Natalia was near the back and off to the side of the formation of dancers. He smiled, she looked exhausted, but he could tell it was a good kind of tiredness. The five guys that were the Backstreet Boys came out on stage a few minutes later and the music was turned on as everyone did a few of the songs together.
Everyone on that stage looked good. The whole group was in complete sync with one another. Michael had not only come to Orlando on business, but also as a favor to his father. His father was worried about his only daughter and knew Michael was close to her so he asked his eldest son to go visit her. Michael knew that this was what his sister wanted, and was now for sure that she would succeed in dancing. He smiled, knowing he could go back to New York and tell their father not to worry any longer.
Michael had to leave near the end of rehearsal and took the rental car to make it to his meeting.
Natalia finished changing into street clothes and prepared to wait for Michael outside. Some of the girls were still there. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Michelle glaring at her and then whispering to another girl whose name was Veronica. They both began to giggle and point at Natalia; as if she wouldn't notice or something. Forcing the urge to punch Michelle, Natalia threw her bag over her shoulder and walked out and almost ran into Nick. He grinned, "Hey, sorry about that."
"It's okay.," She said brushing him off and walking for the main door.
Nick was confused, what happened all of a sudden? "Natalia? What's wrong??"
"Nothing Nick."
"Are you sure?"
She sighed and turned around right before she reached the door, "I'm..I'm just thinking twice about this whole touring thing."
"What?? Why?"
"Nobody talks to me at all Nick. Nobody even TRIES. And I can't take the whispers and the stares and glares from the girls anymore."
"Is it that bad?"
"It's getting that way..."
"Are you waiting for you brother?"
She nodded, "Yeah...he's downtown somewhere."
"Wanna go grab something to eat and talk about it?"
"You wanna talk about it?"
Nick nodded, "Sure..I may not be a good talker, but I think I'm a pretty good listener."
She finally smiled, "Ok..I'll call my brother on the way and leave a voicemail to let him know."
Nick nodded and pushed the door open for her, "After you."
They sat in a small restaurant near the outskirts of Orlando about 20 minutes later. Nick had ordered a burger while Natalia just drank a coke. "Ok..so talk.."
She sighed, "I've just...I've never made friends who are girls that easily. And..usually the guys I know are all through my brothers so in turn, they're kinda my friends. I've always been a loner, I guess."
"How come?"
She shrugged, "I dunno..maybe because I was raised around guys my whole life..I don't really know..and it's never really bothered me until I found out I'm going to have to practically live and work with a bunch of them."
"Maybe they're just threatened."
She laughed out loud at that one, "By me??"
Nick smiled, "Yeah..."
"Highly doubtful."
He smiled again, "And why is that so doubtful Natalia?"
Natalia smiled and sat back in her seat, "I dunno...it's just..it's just....it's ME."
"So?"
He smiled and leaned forward, "So? Maybe they know you're better than them and therefore, they don't like you."
"I don't know.."
"You're not going to leave, are you?"
"No, Nick. I don't give up that easily."
He grinned, "Good..glad to hear that."
She smiled, "So..you payin'?"
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